Rockoon [Original recording reissued]

Tangerine Dream | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 20, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Castle - Old Numbers
• ASIN: B00004TCP9
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #720,694 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Big City Dwarves

2. Red Roadster

3. Touchwood

4. Graffiti Street

5. Funky Atlanta

6. Spanish Love

7. Lifted Veil

8. Penguin Reference

9. Body Corporate

10. Rockoon

11. Girls on Broadway

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Tangerine Dreams darkest hour?, August 9, 2000

By 

Steve Benner "Stonegnome" (Lancaster, UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rockoon (Audio CD)

Periodically during their thirty-odd year history, Tangerine Dream have found themselves at one musical crossroads or another, usually as a result of a change of personnel. When Paul Hasslinger left in 1990, the remaining father and son team of Edgar and Jerome Froese chose to continue the group's musical development by finally abondoning their purely electronic and experimental musical roots, by drawing other musicians into the group on an informal basis, and by producing music much closer to traditional rock in both its outlook and makeup. Their early results, in the form of the album "Rockoon" did much to lose them most of their traditional following! (It is probably no coincidence that TD's official fan club disbanded round about the time of its release!) This album is an unimaginative collection of some 11 5-minuters, nearly all of which sacrifice the traditional Tangerine Dream approach of innovative and varied synthesiser and sequencer programming for a uniformly bland sound world of everyday synthesiser string washes and jangling guitar lines over a relentlessly boring rock drum-machine beat. Gone is the variety of tempo of earlier albums. In fact, gone is any great variety of anything! Only the short `Penguin Reference' manages to capture some of the sparkle of earlier Tangerine Dream successes, while the incorporation of alto sax into the tracks `Body Corporate' and `Red Roadster' give some new interest and also look ahead to the later incorporation of Linda Spa to the group.

While still undeniably Tangerine Dream, this disc moves their sound world well away from the experimental music scene of the 70s and firmly into the acid house world of the 90s. Perhaps less of a crossroads and more a dead end? Only time will tell...

Only buy this disc if you're a fan of mid- to late-90s Tangerine Dream and want more of the same, or if you're a die-hard collector!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Froese/Froese era stumbles out of the gate, September 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Rockoon (Audio CD)

The only reason this album hasn't disappeared into the dust bin of prog rock history is the name of the band that made it. Paired down to the father/son duo of founder, visionary Edgar Froese, and Jerome Froese, Tangerine Dream released this album, much to the dismay of longtime Tangerine Dream fans. Gone are the long, sequencer driven masterpieces, replaced with shorter pieces emphasizing the electric guitar. The backing rhythms would fit in well on any upbeat New Age album, which says enough. Sadly, this effort garnered the band its first Grammy nomination. This promted Edgar Froese to praise whoever it is who gives these awards for finally recognizing "intelligent" music. It never dawned on him that the Grammy people hadn't raised their standards. Despite the overall blandness, "Rockoon" still has its moments. The anthemic title track is fun, while the sublime "Girls on Broadway" is also nice. Overall however, it is a complete disappointment,especially when compared to what the band was capable of with former members aboard. Since however, Amazon won't let me give this album the 2 1/2 (read : mediocre) stars it so richly deserves, I hereby award an extra 1/2 star for the title of Track 8.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Weak album from the early 90s period., June 28, 2000

By 

Miguel Farah Fugate (Santiago, Chile) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rockoon (Audio CD)

Tangerine Dream's strength lies -IMHO- in the interaction between the various band members and the compromise that results. Jerome Froese (son of Edgar Froese, founder and still member of the band), being new to the band, wasn't enough of a force to "oppose" to Edgar's direction, and the result is clearly Edgar being the primary contributor to this album.

Due to this, "Rockoon" is a somewhat weak album, with few memorable moments - it tries (IMHO, unsuccesfully) to have a rockish feel, but doesn't quite achieve it.

Compared to other albums with the same lineup ("Turn of the Tides" and "Tyranny of Beauty") this album comes somewhat behind. I'd recommend buying TotT and ToB first, THEN come back to check out Rockoon.